Britvic has reported a 28% increase in full-year profit before tax to £108m and sealed a new deal with PepsiCo Americas Beverages (PAB) to extend the distribution of Fruit Shoot in the US.
The Pepsi bottler said today sales had increased 4.4% to £1.32bn in the year ending 29 September – boosted by strong sales growth over the summer. The company also benefited from the return of Fruit Shoot to shelves after last year’s product recall.
Britvic also said it had concluded a new 15-year bottling agreement with PAB for Fruit Shoot in the US that will see distribution increase from 32 states to 41.
“Today’s announcement of a new agreement with PepsiCo Americas Beverages for significant additional expansion in the USA is further evidence of the growth opportunities that exist for our brands internationally,” said Britvic CEO Simon Litherland.
Britvic’s proposed merger with AG Barr collapsed this summer after Britvic said it was “in a different place” to when the deal was originally agreed.
After the deal was referred to the Competition Commission, Britvic outlined plans to deliver cost savings of £30m by 2016.
Today, Britvic said it was on track to deliver the savings. It is due to end production in Huddersfield and Chelmsford by March next year and is consulting on plans to reduce the size of its sales and marketing team.
“We have made good progress on the strategic initiatives that we communicated back in May and remain on-track to deliver £30m per annum of cost savings from 2016,” said Litherland.
He also said that trading in the new financial year was “slightly ahead” of a strong first-quarter performance last year.
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